Fernandes' F1 Caterham team celebrate QPR's top gear status

25 May 2014 12:16

Formula One team Caterham, owned like English club QPR by Malaysian millionaire Tony Fernandes, celebrated the side's promotion to the Premier League at the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday.

The F1 team's mechanics got out their paintbrushes to adorn the two Caterham cars with a congratulatory message after the Harry Redknapp-managed QPR moved up to the topflight after Saturday's 1-0 Championship playoff win over Derby.

"CONGRATULATIONS - back where we belong" was written on the side of the cars driven by Japan's Kamui Kobayashi and Swede Marcus Ericsson, alongside the QPR club logo.

The frenzied celebrations at Wembley by Fernandes, who was drenched in champagne after the final whistle, made it clear how important promotion was for the west London club, who would have been in danger of sinking into financial chaos if they had been condemned to another season in the second tier following their relegation in 2013.

Instead promotion comes with an Â£80 million TV revenue windfall.

Unfortunately for Fernandes a similarly happy outcome to Sunday's sixth leg of the F1 world championship was unlikely, with his cars qualifying in the 10th and 11th and last rows.